Now We Go to School

Ric Flair, Roddy Piper and 'Celebrity Wife Swap'

Ric Flair and Roddy Piper — two of the biggest names from 1980s wrestling — participated in "Celebrity Wife Swap" June 30 on ABC. I haven't watched the show before, but I gotta tell you, it was horrifying must-see TV.

You wouldn't know, for starters, that Flair's son Reid had died recently from a heroin overdose — because it wasn't mentioned. In the show, Flair was raising his girlfriend's kids with her. Those old school wrestling fans might remember his current girlfriend playing the Fifi the French Maid character in WCW a couple of years back.

Flair's life these days is basically the pro wrestling version of Jake LaMotta. He can't really work in WWE anymore, as his myriad health conditions preclude him taking an active role with the touring troupe, yet he spends like he's living in 1983 and making big bucks as the world champ. Spa visits, bar visits, fancy restaurants every night — it's like he believes his own promos from his prime and he can be all about "that life" in his dotage.

The most powerful parts of the episode involved figures from Flair's past. His first wife, Beth, spoke with Piper's wife during a segment, which basically spotlighted that Flair's extended midlife crisis started after the dissolution of his marriage to her. Piper, likewise, tried to tell Flair to slow down late in the show, but the Nature Boy wasn't hearing it.

It amazes me, on some level, that Flair is still alive, much less still able to afford the lifestyle he maintains currently, even as he is not employable in any significant way in the "sport" he once defined. I never thought I would be transfixed by "Celebrity Wife Swap." But it's hard to turn away from the trainwreck that has been the life of Flair in recent years.